Luck Reliant Beauty – CH 195

Chapter 195: The Harvest

Just as Cui Zi Xuan and the others left, Jiang Mi stopped catching her breath, slowly straightened up, and turned to look in the direction they had gone.

The sky was dark, and the departing people carelessly lit torches, galloping through the sparse woods.

Jiang Mi stared motionlessly at the woods, and slowly, a cold, ambiguous expression, a mixture of laughter and tears, appeared on her face.

Just then, a dozen guards rushed over. They came up behind Jiang Mi, looking at the corpses she had hacked to the ground, and at Jiang Mi standing there, exuding such loneliness. They cautiously asked, “Madam?”

Jiang Mi did not turn around. She asked softly, “Someone came from there just now. Do you know who it was?”

The guards shook their heads.

Jiang Mi chuckled silently, her voice growing increasingly hoarse. She murmured to herself, “Am I seeing things? I think I saw Young Master Cui come and go…” If that person really was Young Master Cui, he must have been terrified by her just now. Indeed, until today, she had not known she could have such a crazy moment, nor did she know that when truly facing bloodshed and death, she was not afraid. Not only was she not afraid, but deep down, she even felt a barely perceptible excitement!

She really was the former Lady Huarui’s daughter, Jiang Mi thought.

Even her biological father, whom she had never met, was a man who had survived countless battles. So, did she resemble him?

Thinking this, Jiang Mi smiled absentmindedly. She slowly raised her sword horizontally, examined it in the moonlight, then dipped her finger in the blood from the blade and gently smeared it on both cheeks.

…This feeling, permeating her blood, was not disgusting at all. She could actually treat human life like dirt and bloodshed like nothing!

Jiang Mi slowly turned her head, looking at the guards, and asked, “How is the battle going?”

Upon hearing Jiang Mi’s words, the guards’ spirits lifted. One guard exclaimed happily, “I never expected things to go so smoothly today! It’s like heaven has smiled upon us!”

Another guard chimed in triumphantly, “Exactly! They call themselves an elite force! Five thousand men were wiped out by our two thousand cavalry in one charge, and over two thousand more died in the fire while fleeing. Now, only a few hundred have escaped.”

A third guard said, “We were mainly lucky. Nobody expected that a casually fired arrow during the charge would kill their commander, causing chaos among the Late Zhou soldiers. Then they set a fire, and a north wind just happened to blow, fanning the flames and burning the Late Zhou soldiers to a pulp! Hahaha, who says there’s no such thing as fate? This is fate!”

Today’s victory was truly a stroke of luck. The guards, who had been relentlessly killing, were now in high spirits, discussing the strange events of the evening with great enthusiasm.

While they were excitedly discussing, Jiang Mi slowly walked to the side of the hillside. She gazed intently in the direction Cui Zi Xuan and the others had left, slowly placing her sword on the ground as a support for her exhausted body. She remained silent for a long time.

Because Jiang Mi was lost in her own thoughts, she did not notice that as more and more guards returned from the battle, the focus of their discussion had shifted. After a burst of laughter and banter, one of the guards glanced at Jiang Mi standing in the distance and whispered, “Young Master once said that our Princess is deeply blessed and favored by Heaven. After today’s battle, I believe it completely.”

Upon hearing this, all the guards could not help but look at Jiang Mi, their eyes filled with a kind of fervent fascination they themselves did not realize!

If we were to say who in this world, where human life is as worthless as grass, would be the kind of person these people who live on the edge of death would most desire, it would undoubtedly be a general blessed with good fortune and a long life. Because this was a world where Heaven was merciless, and all living beings were treated like straw dogs in Heaven’s eyes. Whether you were a high-ranking prince or a commoner struggling to survive in the fields, your life was as insignificant as an ant. No one knew which calamity would take your life tomorrow. In this context, Jiang Mi’s profound blessings made her the most desirable figure to rely on.

At this moment, another guard lowered his voice and said, “I will go back and send a message by carrier pigeon to the brothers about today’s events so they can come to the Princess’s side as soon as possible.”

The third guard sighed, “It’s a pity the Princess is not a man. If she were, she would probably be the chosen one.”

Immediately, another guard chimed in, “Although the Princess is not a man, Young Master is. Anyway, Young Master and the Princess are not blood-related siblings. Wouldn’t everything be perfect if they got married?” Upon hearing this, the other guards all murmured their agreement.

After cleaning up the battlefield and resting, it was already the third day. On this day, the newly groomed guards stood on horseback, surrounding Jiang Mi like stars around the moon. One of the guards asked, “Princess, shall we take these prisoners back to Guide City to confront Chai Zongxun?”

Jiang Mi shook her head. After this battle, she had clearly become more decisive; even now, her voice carried a firmness, no longer tinged with hesitation or weakness. “There’s no need! Did Chai Zongxun not send us to Youzhou to assist Chai Rong in handling the conflict with the Later Han? Although this decree was fabricated by Chai Zongxun to deceive us, I think we should continue on our way. I want to hand all these prisoners over to Chai Rong!”

With a cold expression, Jiang Mi said, “These people’s testimonies are all here. I want Chai Rong to personally judge the injustice I suffered!” By doing this, she was also accusing Chai Zongxun before they met, to prevent him from causing trouble for her later.

The guards exchanged glances. After a moment’s hesitation, one guard reminded her, “But they are father and son after all…”

Jiang Mi interrupted him, “I know they are father and son, and I will not force Chai Rong to punish Chai Zongxun!” Jiang Mi said decisively, “I just want Chai Zongxun to learn a lesson so he will never dare to provoke me again!”

The guards thought her idea was good and nodded.

Having made up their minds, Jiang Mi and her party continued their journey. This time, however, in addition to their own thousand-plus guards, they also escorted several hundred prisoners and nearly two thousand captured horses.

After a month of this journey, Jiang Mi and her party arrived in Northern Han. Jiang Mi did not personally deliver the prisoners and horses to Chai Rong but sent some guards instead. While those guards went to find Chai Rong, Jiang Mi did not delay but instead rode at full speed, arriving in Youzhou half a month later.

When Jiang Mi arrived in Youzhou, the chieftainship struggle within the Luojin Tribe was nearing its end. Through Jiang Mi’s machinations, the Luojin Tribe chief, though he had killed two rebellious sons, was on his deathbed. Three days after Jiang Mi’s arrival, the Luojin Tribe chief passed away, and his fourth son, He Muduo, officially became the new chief. He granted Lady Yang of Youzhou a 100-mile radius mountain forest, less than 200 li from Youzhou, which Jiang Mi had desired, as her new territory!

A 100-mile radius—this was an astonishing figure. This area was more than twice the size of Lady Yang’s original territory. Of course, the main reason was that Jiang Mi demanded a mountain forest that the Luojin Tribe did not need, which is why He Muduo and the Luojin elders were so generous.

Almost simultaneously with the acquisition of the territory, members of the Tang Dynasty Li Clan from all directions flocked to Jiang’s forces. In less than a month, her guards swelled from less than two thousand to ten thousand, and the number continued to grow.

Although many of these new guards brought their families, Jiang Mi was currently in dire need of manpower. She assigned them to clear forests and deployed her most loyal men to search for iron ore in the new territory.

In this world, while gold and silver were undoubtedly the most important minerals, iron ore was the most valuable. Only with iron ore could weapons be forged, and only with weapons could one dominate the world. According to geographical records, the iron ore mine in Jiang Mi’s new territory was possibly one of the top five largest iron ore deposits ever discovered in the world.

Of course, the matter of the iron mine must not be revealed; otherwise, even a kind and benevolent ruler like Chai Rong would be tempted!

A month after Jiang Mi arrived in Youzhou, the several hundred guards she had sent to Chai Rong’s location returned.

The guards reported to Jiang Mi that Chai Rong was furious after seeing the prisoners, but judging from his expression, he also seemed somewhat resentful towards Lady Yang, the troublemaker. The guards also brought Chai Rong’s decree, which stated that since Lady Yang was already in Youzhou, she should lend him a hand. He asked her to use her influence in Youzhou to purchase 20,000 dan of grain and send it to Chai Rong.

This was a simple matter. Jiang Mi also intended to use this incident to appease Chai Rong and prevent him from holding a grudge. She planned to give all 20,000 dan of grain to Chai Rong free of charge.

Just a month later, when Jiang Mi was transporting the 20,000 dan of grain to the border between Northern Han and Later Zhou, she received news that the iron mine in her new territory extended into a neighboring territory, where a tribe was already inhabiting.

Three days after receiving this news, Jiang Mi issued a decree. She ordered her guards to disguise themselves as bandits and attack the tribe and two smaller neighboring tribes. Simultaneously, she had poisoned the grasslands of those tribes, ensuring that their livestock could not survive. Only then would they willingly migrate elsewhere.

Jiang Mi’s decree proved highly effective; in less than two months, the small tribes found new settlements and eagerly migrated.

Thus, silently, Jiang Mi expanded her territory by approximately fifty square miles. To protect the iron mine’s secret, she even dispatched a group of guards disguised as bandits, patrolling and shooting anyone who approached the mine.

In the midst of this busy activity, another year passed. When another spring arrived, not only had Chai Rong won two battles against the Northern Han, capturing two cities, but Lady Yang of Youzhou had also quietly transformed into a behemoth.

In the spring of that year, Chai Rong ordered Lady Yang to go to Bianliang to receive her title. After a year of profound growth, Jiang Mi, with her guards, eagerly set off for Bianliang after making some arrangements. She had been separated from Cui Zi Xuan for almost a year and missed him terribly.